MORECAMBE and Lunesdale MP David Morris has slammed as "ludicrous" proposals to shake up electoral boundaries in north Lancashire.

His criticisms came as the Boundary Commission this week announced detailed proposals to redraw the UK's political map.

The plans would create a Lancaster and Morecambe seat, said Mr Morris, and a North Lancashire seat "which lumps Silverdale and Carnforth with a rag tag of rural areas all the way to the Ribble Valley and Preston".

The Boundary Commission "clearly had no regard to the people of Morecambe and Lunesdale" when drawing up their plans, claimed Mr Morris. Instead, they had "taken a calculator approach" without ever visiting the community.

Criticising the proposal to place Silverdale and Carnforth in the same constituency as the Ribble Valley, the Conservative MP said: "No one can argue these areas are remotely linked and it will mean that the rural north of Morecambe and Lunesdale would be forgotten."

He added: "I will be opposing these proposals all the way and encourage everyone in Morecambe who does not want to be matched with Lancaster, and those in Carnforth who see no link to North Preston, to voice their opposition to the Commission."

In Cumbria, meanwhile, the plan is to cut the number of parliamentary seats from six to five. The Boundary Commission says every constituency must contain between 71,031 and 78,507 electors. It says all of Cumbria's half-dozen seats - Westmorland and Lonsdale, Barrow and Furness, Copeland, Carlisle, Workington, and Penrith and The Border - fall short of that figure. In a nutshell, the proposals for Cumbria are to:

- Expand the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency to include Appleby

- Increase the electorate of Barrow and Furness by extending the seat northwards, to include Millom

- Create a new seat called Penrith and Solway to include Keswick, the northern lakes and fells, extending to the Solway Firth

- Create a new coastal constituency called Workington and Whitehaven

- Increase the size of the Carlisle seat.

The Commission said that Cumbria's boundary options had been limited by the "physical geography of the mountains, lakes, coast and estuaries".

Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron broadly greeted the proposals. "The Boundary Commission have clearly listened to what local people said during the aborted 2013 review, and have come up with a much better map that respects communities," he told the Gazette: "We’re glad of this, and we’ll be engaging with the Commission on behalf of people in Cumbria to make sure their final proposals similarly respect local communities."

- The public have until December 5, 2016 to comment on the proposals. Visit www.bce2018.org.uk. There is also to be a two-day public hearing at Lancaster's Storey Institute on October 24-25. Final proposals will be made to Parliament in September 2018.